Spanish Weather Expressions and Seasons

Overview

Learn weather expressions and the seasons they are paired with. Both SER and ESTAR are very useful for talking about the weather and seasons in Spanish. The verb ESTAR will be used to say what the weather is like at a given moment, that is, the temporary weather conditions. On the other hand, SER will be used in a more descriptive and general way.

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July 12, 2023

Stephen Sovenyhazy

You may need to check and understand the weather report in order to make plans for your day. Let’s check out a few weather expression in Spanish and get to know the names of the seasons!

Common phrases for each season:

La primavera – The Spring

Hace viento – It’s windy. Llueve. / Está lloviendo. – It’s raining.

El verano – The Summer

Hace sol. – It’s sunny. Hace calor. – It’s hot.

El otoño- The Fall

Está nublado. – It’s cloudy. Hace fresco. – It’s chilly.

El invierno –The Winter

Hace frío. – It’s cold. Nieva. / Está nevando. – It’s snowing.

Two of the most commonly used phrases are:

Hace buen tiempo. = The weather is nice/good.

Hace mal tiempo. = The weather is bad.

Here are 20 phrases in Spanish to describe the weather, with their English translations. These should be useful for beginners:

Hace buen tiempo – The weather is good.
Hace mal tiempo – The weather is bad.
Hace calor – It’s hot.
Hace frío – It’s cold.
Hace sol – It’s sunny.
Hace viento – It’s windy.
Está nublado – It’s cloudy.
Está lloviendo or Llueve – It’s raining.
Está nevando or Nieva – It’s snowing.
Hay tormenta – There’s a storm.
Hay relámpagos – There’s lightning.
Hay arco iris – There’s a rainbow.
Está húmedo – It’s humid.
Está seco – It’s dry.
Hace fresco – It’s cool (as in mildly cold).
El cielo está despejado – The sky is clear.
Hay niebla – It’s foggy.
La temperatura es alta – The temperature is high.
La temperatura es baja – The temperature is low.
El pronóstico del tiempo para hoy es… – Today’s weather forecast is…

These phrases will help you talk about the weather in different contexts. Practice using them and you’ll become more comfortable with them over time.

Highlighted Author:

Stephen Sovenyhazy

Stephen is the President of CORE Languages having founded the company in 2007. His focus is on empowering those with a need for community, culture and communication. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. A quote from Stephen. "When I started teaching, I sought to bring that same energy, dedication, and sense of purpose into my own classrooms. I founded CORE Languages to expand that vision, seeing the growing need for language training options designed to meet the unique needs of business environments. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. It’s a privilege to do what we do and share what we love with you.”

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The Simple Future (Futuro simple), is used to describe actions that will happen in the future, without indicating a specific point in time.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

The CEFR is an international standard used to describe language ability. Here are specific details of the CEFR for this topic.

General Explanation:

Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

Specific Capabilities at this Level

Writing:

I can write a short, simple postcard, for example sending holiday greetings. I can fill in forms with personal details, for example entering my name, nationality and address on a hotel registration form.

Spoken Production:

I can use simple phrases and sentences to describe where I live and people I know.

Spoken Interaction:

I can interact in a simple way provided the other person is prepared to repeat or rephrase things at a slower rate of speech and help me formulate what I’m trying to say. I can ask and answer simple questions in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics.

Reading:

I can understand familiar names, words and very simple sentences, for example on notices and posters or in catalogues.

Listening:

I can recognize familiar words and very basic phrases concerning myself, my family and immediate concrete surroundings when people speak slowly and clearly.